Gluten-Free Asparagus + Goat Cheese Tart

Sometimes the hardest part of the market is talking about food all day………

This is true. Five in the morning is too early to eat for me. By noon, when the market ends, however, I cannot seem to get food fast enough. The struggle is real to be surrounded by food. All morning I’ll eye people carrying a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. Add to that, that my neighbor has gorgeous asparagus. And you know it’s good because he sells out by 10:30 every weekend.

All morning my brain races with dishes I want to make. I am constantly conceptualizing. And talking with people who stop by my booth, typically leads to more food conversations (I am a baker, this should be expected). I am talking and creating at the same time. My excitement for a new recipe grows as the day goes.

When I was brainstorming Easter recipes I had thought asparagus tart.

And every Saturday as I sit next to my neighbor I think: asparagus tart.

Finally we bought some asparagus. And finally I have made a tart.

There are some vegetables, which are so good, I could eat them all the time. One woman claimed that by the end of asparagus season, she is over asparagus. Blasphemous.

I could eat asparagus every day.

I could eat cabbage every day.

I could eat Brussels sprouts every day.

And I could probably eat broccoli every day.

This tart is all I could ever dream. I normally just eat asparagus simply: cook it in fat (bacon fat, coconut oil, Kerry Gold butter, ghee, etc.), salt and pepper. But this tart. This tart is divine. Puff pastry. I’d never attempted a gluten-free puff pastry. Goat cheese. Dairy doesn’t really bother me, so sometimes I include some. Life is short and I enjoy cheese. Especially of the goat variety. And then I was torn on a sauce. Torn between balsamic and a lemon honey. But the lemon honey sounded light and heavenly. So I went for what I felt was an unexpected choice for myself.

Asparagus Tart with Goat Cheese

Puff Pastry:

¾ cup almond flour

¼ cup tapioca flour

2 tbsp arrowroot flour

¼ tsp sea salt

10 tablespoons butter, cold

1/3 cup ice water

Filling:

10 asparagus, ends cut off and cut in half

½ cup goat cheese, soft

Pepper to taste

Let’s Make it Happen:

Puff Pastry: Mix the flours and salt. Cube in the butter. Cut it in with a pastry cutter or a fork. Make a well in the center. Pour in the water. Use a fork to mix it in. Flour a cutting board and a rolling pin. Shape the dough into a squarish shape. Roll the dough into a rectangle (roughly 10 inches long). Fold the bottom up a third of the rectangle. Fold the top piece down overlapping the other piece. Rotate dough one quarter. Repeat. Do this at least 6 times. Wrap and let it hang out for an hour.

Filling: Preheat oven to 400. Roll out the dough (fitting the size of asparagus). Fold edges to make a border, seal with a fork around the parameter. Poke some holes in the bottom.

Boil the asparagus until tender (a few minutes, like 3). Rinse. Spread out on paper towels.

Gently smear the goat cheese over the tart of the pastry. Scatter your asparagus over the top, arranging really pretty. Sprinkle with parmesan, dill and pepper.